Supervisors invoke Wonder Woman in call for female firefighters

Los Angeles County Supervisors Sheila Kuehl (left), 3rd District, and Janice Hahn, 5th District, wore Wonder Woman headbands at a meeting in which they evaluated Los Angeles County Fire Department’s efforts to recruit and retain women and update fire stations to accommodate men and women.

(photo by Martin Zamora)

Only 45 of Los Angeles County Fire Department’s 2,866 firefighters are women, and the majority of fire stations in Los Angeles County cannot accommodate women firefighters. Supervisors Hilda Solis, 1st District, and Kathryn Barger, 5th District, joined Hahn and Kuehl in wearing the headbands while discussing the issue with Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby on Tuesday.

The discussion occurred as the board considered Hahn’s motion to remodel the Marina del Rey Fire Station to accommodate male and female firefighters in locker rooms, dormitories and restrooms. While the supervisor noted that the passage of the motion was a positive improvement, much more work remains.

“Remodeling our fire stations to accommodate both men and women is progress but it is an empty gesture if we do not actually hire women as firefighters to staff those stations,” Hahn said. “We can and we must do better, and I think my fellow Wonder Women on the board agree with me.”